Elizabeth Moon's Blog, page 59
November 26, 2010
Day After
Yesterday was cloudy and windy, all but one hour when the wind died. That was between the warm-to-hot wind that blew from the SW until sometime around 11 (I was busy, OK?) so we were all a bit too warm, running around in short-sleeved T-shirts & jeans, doing the prep work for the dinner. Making dressing, putting turkeys to bed in the roasters, finishing table setting and decoration, putting the ham in the oven, chatting with early arriving guests while zipping back and forth on these and other things. Worrying a little that it was going to be too hot in the back room, with 15 people busily eating, unless we turned on the AC and opened all the windows, but there was this cold front due...
We sat down to eat in a room no longer too warm, but cooled just to the comfortable point (and guests were arriving from the cold outdoors.)
Lots of eating and talking ensued, and didn't stop for hours (the eating had pauses, even gaps, and finally was down to desultory and intermittent nibbling by individuals, who could be found propped against a doorframe with a small plate of something---the talking had no pauses.)
The food guests brought was delicious. They said the food I cooked was delicious. This created the happy coincidence of happy cooks on all sides. Turkey, ham, dressing, gravy, green beans, salad, and various accouterments disappeared...then so did cake and pies. Lots of pies. A gracious plenty, as a friend of my mother's used to say, disappeared. And there was enough, in abundance, that I could have two slices of pumpkin pie for breakfast (it's a vegetable, she says virtuously.)
Today is clear, deep blue sky, chilly and breezy, and drop-dead gorgeous. Today is for packaging those leftovers destined for the freezer, and enjoying the ones destined for today's meals. (We like T-day leftovers.) Today is for resting (having worked our buns off Wednesday and Thursday--well worth it, but the bodies are stiff and sore.) Today is for being thankful all over again, for the friends that came and enjoyed themselves where we could share in their enjoyment
We sat down to eat in a room no longer too warm, but cooled just to the comfortable point (and guests were arriving from the cold outdoors.)
Lots of eating and talking ensued, and didn't stop for hours (the eating had pauses, even gaps, and finally was down to desultory and intermittent nibbling by individuals, who could be found propped against a doorframe with a small plate of something---the talking had no pauses.)
The food guests brought was delicious. They said the food I cooked was delicious. This created the happy coincidence of happy cooks on all sides. Turkey, ham, dressing, gravy, green beans, salad, and various accouterments disappeared...then so did cake and pies. Lots of pies. A gracious plenty, as a friend of my mother's used to say, disappeared. And there was enough, in abundance, that I could have two slices of pumpkin pie for breakfast (it's a vegetable, she says virtuously.)
Today is clear, deep blue sky, chilly and breezy, and drop-dead gorgeous. Today is for packaging those leftovers destined for the freezer, and enjoying the ones destined for today's meals. (We like T-day leftovers.) Today is for resting (having worked our buns off Wednesday and Thursday--well worth it, but the bodies are stiff and sore.) Today is for being thankful all over again, for the friends that came and enjoyed themselves where we could share in their enjoyment
From Twitter 11-25-2010
07:30:13: Turkeys in. Lull before guests arrive is for breakfast, shower, and brief nap. Oh and making bed, shoveling papers out of LR...(what nap?)
10:14:18: The thirty-second turkey, for thermite experts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU8iRYbnAb0
10:24:26: Ham is in the oven now. Turkeys should be ~ half done. Ham will get glaze in 80 minutes.
20:51:10: RT @CherylMorgan: Women do better at physics if given exercises to improve their self-esteem: http://j.mp/ehBHA5
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November 25, 2010
From Twitter 11-24-2010
08:31:25: Eyes still have onion burn. Today is all about cooking, with writing in the interstices (instead of the other way 'round.)
13:27:37: RT @patinagle: RT @bookviewcafe: Today's Special from Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff: A Princess of Passyunk - read it for free at http://www.b ...
13:30:15: RT @kylecassidy: Can we waterboard them then? - US Gov memo: Any person who objects to "enhanced screening" is a "domestic extremist." ...
22:55:08: RT @KSmithSF: What Tea Party mandate? Most Americans want to keep the health care law -- and expand it. http://gocl.me/hmHFTx
23:00:04: 11 pm already and must be up at 6 to put the heat on turkeys. (There are other turkeys I'd like to put the heat on...but later.)
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November 24, 2010
From Twitter 11-23-2010
10:03:23: RT @patinagle: RT @bookviewcafe: Today's Special from Deborah J. Ross: new chapter in Jaydium - read it for free at http://www.bookviewc ...
10:03:31: RT @patinagle: RT @bookviewcafe: Book View Café Releases Gerald M. Weinberg's THE HANDS OF GOD http://www.bookviewcafe.com/
16:43:42: RT @dianagill: Hee! RT @tordotcom: The MTA goes to Hogwarts now; subway platform 9 3/4 spotted right down the street at Union Square: ht ...
17:05:52: RT @pinknews: Apple approves 'anti-gay' iPhone app http://bit.ly/huKdjK
22:07:08: Celery & parsley for dressing chopped and in plastic bags. Should do onions before bed.
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November 23, 2010
As the holiday nears
Best wishes for a happy one to all who observe Thanksgiving.
We're having our usual interesting mix of guests--those who've been with us for...approaching 40 years now, and those who are new this year, and those in between, in terms of longevity. The present count is fifteen and I'm hoping the weather allows the four who are nobly making a long trek to be with us can actually make it. The weather's due to change abruptly (from SSW winds to NNW winds, from unseasonably warm to amply-and-a-bit-more seasonably cold, with possible rain and thunderstorms as the front passes. On Thursday morning, of course. As they're driving.
I have chopped celery, parsley, and onion for the dressing. When I see people on TV cooking shows making dressing, they do not impress...oh, one or two ribs of celery, maybe a half an onion (the bold ones do a whole onion) and a little teensy bit of parsley. That's not the way, guys and gals. There needs to be a lot more greenery (counting onions--they're fresh vegetables, OK?) in the dressing than that. I put in as much parsley and celery as I do in making a big (20 quart) pot of stock, and slightly more onion. Along with a LOT of herbs. Nor is a measly 9x13 baking dish of dressing enough. (For fifteen? You've got to be kidding.)
What remains to be done: lots. Some of the known-quantity guests are bringing dishes to share: green beans, corn, pecan pies (two types), homemade cranberry sauce (two types), apple pie, rolls. I need to make my share of desserts (pumpkin pie, etc.) Giblets for gravy get cooked as soon as the turkeys are thawed enough to get them out (tomorrow, that should be.) Come the dawn on T-day, the turkeys go in the roasters and the ham gets its glaze (homemade spiced pear) and into one oven, dressing in the other while waiting for company to appear, while the tables are set and the decorations and nibbles are put in place. Cutting boards and platters will be in place to deal with moving food onto platters onto the tables. By the time guests arrive, with things to be last-minute-heated, one oven should be empty and ready for them, with gravy finishing on top of the stove.
The tables are a mix of older tables--we put the two "real" dining room tables together end to end (that can seat ten fairly comfortably, though they aren't exactly the same height or width) and we'll use a table we made from plywood and folding legs for the other five, far enough away for people to pass between.
And between now and then, I'll be dashing madly around, cooking, setting up the dining area, etc.
We're having our usual interesting mix of guests--those who've been with us for...approaching 40 years now, and those who are new this year, and those in between, in terms of longevity. The present count is fifteen and I'm hoping the weather allows the four who are nobly making a long trek to be with us can actually make it. The weather's due to change abruptly (from SSW winds to NNW winds, from unseasonably warm to amply-and-a-bit-more seasonably cold, with possible rain and thunderstorms as the front passes. On Thursday morning, of course. As they're driving.
I have chopped celery, parsley, and onion for the dressing. When I see people on TV cooking shows making dressing, they do not impress...oh, one or two ribs of celery, maybe a half an onion (the bold ones do a whole onion) and a little teensy bit of parsley. That's not the way, guys and gals. There needs to be a lot more greenery (counting onions--they're fresh vegetables, OK?) in the dressing than that. I put in as much parsley and celery as I do in making a big (20 quart) pot of stock, and slightly more onion. Along with a LOT of herbs. Nor is a measly 9x13 baking dish of dressing enough. (For fifteen? You've got to be kidding.)
What remains to be done: lots. Some of the known-quantity guests are bringing dishes to share: green beans, corn, pecan pies (two types), homemade cranberry sauce (two types), apple pie, rolls. I need to make my share of desserts (pumpkin pie, etc.) Giblets for gravy get cooked as soon as the turkeys are thawed enough to get them out (tomorrow, that should be.) Come the dawn on T-day, the turkeys go in the roasters and the ham gets its glaze (homemade spiced pear) and into one oven, dressing in the other while waiting for company to appear, while the tables are set and the decorations and nibbles are put in place. Cutting boards and platters will be in place to deal with moving food onto platters onto the tables. By the time guests arrive, with things to be last-minute-heated, one oven should be empty and ready for them, with gravy finishing on top of the stove.
The tables are a mix of older tables--we put the two "real" dining room tables together end to end (that can seat ten fairly comfortably, though they aren't exactly the same height or width) and we'll use a table we made from plywood and folding legs for the other five, far enough away for people to pass between.
And between now and then, I'll be dashing madly around, cooking, setting up the dining area, etc.
From Twitter 11-22-2010
13:39:34: Women in science:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/nov/21/royal-society-lost-women-scientists?CMP=twt_fd
16:24:06: Sometimes what seems like a promising complication in a story...isn't.
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November 22, 2010
From Twitter 11-21-2010
09:16:11: There's no such thing as an inexhaustible resource...other than human idiocy. We can exhaust forests of trees, oceans of fish...
09:19:23: ...and still have an abundant and ever-increasing supply of human idiocy proclaiming that air, water, forests, and oceans are inexhaustible.
16:05:45: Making spiced pear glaze for ham...good smells in the kitchen. (Stew chopped fresh pears, add sugar, cinnamon, cloves, ginger.)
16:06:12: Spiced pear also makes good filling for little pastries.
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November 21, 2010
From Twitter 11-20-2010
11:36:42: RT @KSmithSF: Pat-downs for thee, but not for me: John Boehner, Speaker-Elect, Flies Commercial, skips the search part - http://nyti.ms/ ...
11:37:41: RT @patinagle: RT @bookviewcafe: Today's Special from Sarah Zettel: new chapter in Camelot's Blood - read it for free at http://www.book ...
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November 20, 2010
Still creeping
The result of Thursday's foray into big grocery stores was Friday's all-day exhaustion. I couldn't get up any energy though I did manage to accomplish a few things (putting laundry in the machine, taking laundry out) with rests at frequent intervals.
I've pulled out of the music I had signed up to do, realizing by Friday night that there was no way I could leap forth full of oomph for Saturday's rehearsal and subsequent ones. There is no oomph. Some oomph needs to return pretty quickly so I can perform the Thanksgiving feat (long practice and what passes for organization around here will get it done with less effort than if this were my first time!)
Complete wellness and abundant energy would be really welcome about now. (Relative wellness is also very welcome, after how I felt this time last week!!)
I've pulled out of the music I had signed up to do, realizing by Friday night that there was no way I could leap forth full of oomph for Saturday's rehearsal and subsequent ones. There is no oomph. Some oomph needs to return pretty quickly so I can perform the Thanksgiving feat (long practice and what passes for organization around here will get it done with less effort than if this were my first time!)
Complete wellness and abundant energy would be really welcome about now. (Relative wellness is also very welcome, after how I felt this time last week!!)
From Twitter 11-19-2010
09:03:18: RT @ISS_NatLab: SPACE.com reports on the "dazzling" photos taken from the ISS. http://fb.me/AR7uQEM1
09:04:26: Beautiful day outside, but lots of work to do indoors. First, the laundry...
10:51:19: RT @patinagle: RT @bookviewcafe: Today's Special from Patricia Rice: new chapter in Much Ado About Magic - read it for free at http://ww ...
11:07:42: RT @patinagle: RT @bookviewcafe: On the BVC Blog: Brenda Clough "Simplifying Christmas: The Entry Level Drug for YA" http://blog.bookvie ...
16:49:22: RT @patinagle: #fridayreads WRITING HORSES by Judith Tarr
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